Tuesday

Some Palm Beach restaurants have closed, while others have reduced their hours, and many are ramping up their takeout and delivery services.

Restaurants in Palm Beach have put in motion new plans they’ve quickly cobbled together in response to heightened COVID-19 disease concerns and the town’s newly instituted curfew.

Whether they’re remaining open with abbreviated hours or replacing dine-in service with takeout and delivery, the need to make changes reached another pitch Tuesday, when Gov. Ron DeSantis ordered bars and nightclubs to shut down for 30 days and for restaurants to cut their crowd-capacity in half.

Island restaurateurs said the number of people dining out in Palm Beach already has declined drastically anyway as worries mount about the COVID-19 disease.

"So many things are changing so fast, it’s a day-by-day situation," said Richard Whitaker, manager at Ta-boo on Worth Avenue. "We know we may have to readjust anytime."

Current plans for restaurants in town generally fall into two camps.

The first includes restaurants that are remaining open, but with fewer tables, heightened sanitation procedures and, particularly if dinner is served, abbreviated hours to fall in line with the 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew the town put in place Monday.

Other restaurants already have closed or are closing today Wednesday.

But whether closing temporarily or remaining open, most restaurants in town are starting or ramping up takeout, curbside pickup and delivery programs.

That involves employing their staffs as the backbone and/or partnering with third-party delivery companies, such as deliverydudes.com, doordash.com, ubereats.com and grubhub.com, among others (those websites offer delivery from numerous area restaurants, including in Palm Beach).

"No matter what, we just want to try as hard as we can to keep our (restaurant) crew working and our customers and friends eating," said Eric Lemonides, managing partner of Almond restaurant, which debuted in late January on Royal Poinciana Way.

Almond is among the Palm Beach restaurants remaining open with limited seating, abbreviated hours (if they serve dinner) and takeout and/or delivery options. Plans call for final dinner seatings to take place between 7 and 8 p.m.

Restaurants that have closed their dining rooms but ramped up their takeout and delivery include Buccan, Imoto, Chez Jean-Pierre, Cucina, Field of Greens, Renato’s, Pizza al Fresco, Al Fresco and Acqua Café, among others.

"I think we will be seeing a lot of pizzas (ordered for takeout and delivery), as well as a lot of chicken and seafood dishes," said Kent Thurston, executive chef of Cucina.

At least two restaurants, Café L’Europe and Trevini, are closing temporarily — until further notice — without offering takeout or delivery.

Their plans could change, but for now, closure "until things get better" closing seems like the best course of action, said Trevini co-owner Gianni Minervini, who on Tuesday afternoon was readying for the restaurant’s final dinner service before the closure.

"For us, closing for now is the best decision for our guests and our employees," Minervini said. "All of us will support each other in Palm beach and we will get through this and reopen even stronger."